Earl Hebner joins AEW, more referees announced

Earl Hebner, along with a number of other referees, have joined All Elite Wrestling.

The longtime referee was announced as joining the roster tonight on AEW’s Twitter.

AEW also announced today that Aubrey Edwards and Paul Turner have joined AEW as referees. Edwards has refereed in the Pacific Northwest area, including Defy Wrestling. Turner has previously been a referee for Ring of Honor.

PWG referee Rick Knox and former CHIKARA referee Bryce Remsburg have also signed with AEW, with Knox being announced on the latest episode of Being the Elite.

Hebner is best known for being a referee for the WWE from 1988 to 2005, and perhaps is more infamously known as being the referee for the Survivor Series 1997 match between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. It was Hebner who made the call to ring the bell once Michaels had put Hart in the sharpshooter despite Hart not submitting.

After being fired by the WWE in 2005 for selling merchandise without WWE’s permission, Hebner joined Impact Wrestling and was part of the promotion until 2017 when they parted ways.